Friday, December 31, 2010

Patience is the 6th Perfection:The characteristic of patience is acceptance, its function is to endure,
and its manifestation is non-opposing tolerance! The cause of patience
is understanding how things really are.. The effect of patience is calmtranquility despite presence of intensely stirring provocation..
Patience of the will produces forgiving forbearance!
Patience of the intellect produces faith, confidence and certainty!
Patience of the body produces resolute and tenacious endurance!
Internal tolerance of states within oneself is patient endurance...
External tolerance of other beings is forbearance and forgiveness...

He who patiently protects himself, protects also all other beings! He who patiently protects all other beings, protects also himself!

Not from speaking much is one called clever.
The patient one is free from anger and free from fear,only such steady persisting one, is rightly called clever...Dhammapada 258

Patient tolerance is the highest praxis...Nibbāna is the supreme Bliss!
So say all the Buddhas.Dhammapada 184

The innocent one, who has done nothing wrong,
Who endures abuse, flogging and even imprisonment,
Such one, armed with stamina, the great force of tolerance,
Such stoic one, who self-possessed can accept, I call a Holy One!Dhammapada 399

One should follow those who are determined, tolerant, and enduring,
intelligent, wise, diligent, clever, good-willed and evidently Noble.
One shall stick to them as the moon remains in its regular orbit. Dhammapada 208

Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, you should not get angry, but do my bidding:
Remain pervading them and all others with a friendly Awareness imbued
with an all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, and immeasurable!
Free from hostility, free from any ill will. Always remembering this very Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves. Majjhima Nikāya 21

The five ways of removing irritating annoyance:
Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any
irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him.
What are these five ways?
1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state..
2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state..
3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state..
4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state..
5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus:
This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is
indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they
good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly
removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which anyirritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises... Anguttara Nikāya V 161

Buddha to his son Rāhula: Develop an Imperturbable Mind like the elements:
Rāhula, develop a mind like earth, then contacts of arisen like and dislike
will not obsess your mind! Rāhula, on the earth is dumped both the pure and
the impure: excreta, urine, saliva, pus, blood, but the earth does not detest
any of those... Even and exactly so make your mind stable like the earth!
Rāhula, develop a mind like water, then contacts of arisen pleasure and pain
will not seize your mind. Rāhula with water both the pure and the impure
are cleaned... Washed away with water are excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and
blood, yet the water does not despise any of that! Even so make the mind
fluid and adaptable like the water!
Rāhula, develop a mind like fire, then the contacts of any arisen attraction
or aversion will neither consume, nor hang on to your mind! Rāhula, fire burns
both the pure and the impure, burns excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood,
yet the fire does not loathe any of that.. In the same manner refine the mind
into a tool like an all consuming and purifying fire!
Rāhula, develop a mind similar to space, then contacts of arisen delight and
frustration does neither take hold of, nor remain in your mind. Space does
not settle anywhere! Similarly make the mind unsettled and unestablished
like open space. When you expand mind like space, contacts of delight and
frustration will neither be able to dominate, nor obsess your mind...Majjhima Nikāya 62

Thursday, December 30, 2010

How does the Noble live in Alert Elevated Joy?The BlessedBuddha once said:
How, Nandiya, does a Noble Disciple live in alert elevated joy?
Here, Nandiya, any Noble Disciple is endowed with verified conviction in the Buddha thus: Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha!
Not satisfied with that verified conviction in the Buddha, he makes a further
effort in solitude by day and by seclusion at night!
When thus enthusiastic, he is elevated by alertness!
When thus elevated by alertness, then gladness is born!
When he is gladdened, then a rapturous joy arises!
When the mind is uplifted by joy, the body becomes all tranquil...
One tranquil in body experiences a pure bliss of sweet happiness!
The mind of one who is thus happy becomes condensed and concentrated...
When mind is concentrated, even subtle phenomena become plain and simple.
Since these subtle phenomena become plain and simple, he becomes one,
who lives and dwells always rejoicing in alert elevated joy...

Mutual Joy cures all vicious Envy and Jealousy!The dear companion can be the proximate cause for Mutual Joy, where one
rejoices in another being's success... One thus rejoicing in others fortune
is called a 'boon companion', for he is constantly glad: He laughs first and
speaks afterward! So he should be the first to be pervaded with gladness.
Or on seeing a dear person being happy, cheerful and glad, mutual joy can
be aroused thus: 'See this being is indeed glad! How good, how excellent!'
Just as one would be glad at seeing a dear and beloved person very happy,
exactly so does one pervade all other beings in all directions with mutual joy...
Rejoicing mutual joy can also be aroused by remembering other's happiness
in the past and recollecting the elated joy aspect in this way: 'In the past he
had great wealth, a great following and he was always glad'. Or mutual joy
can be aroused by apprehending the future glad aspect of his in this way:
'In the future he will again enjoy similar success and will go about in gold
palanquins, on the backs of elephants or on horseback'. Having thus aroused
mutual joy regarding a dear person, one can then direct the very same feeling
successively towards a neutral one, and gradually towards any hostile person.
Vbh 274, Vism I 316

Monday, December 27, 2010

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, just as this body, is sustained by feeding, exists in dependence on
feeding & cannot survive without food, even so are the 7 Links to Awakening
also sustained by feeding, they also can only exist in dependence on feeding
and they cannot survive without feeding... And what, bhikkhus, is the feeding
of the emergence of any yet unarisen joy and also feeding of the completion
by increase of any already arisen joy? There are mental states that are the
originator, maker, producer, root, basis & source for the awakening of joy!
Frequently giving careful & rational attention to them, is feeding the arising
and gradual fulfillment of joy... And what is the starving that obstructs the
emergence of any yet unarisen joy and which also hinders any already arisen
joy from reaching sweet fulfillment by development? There are states that
are the basis & source for the joy link to awakening! Not giving frequent careful and rational attention to them; not considering them much & often;
is the starving that prevents any unarisen joy from arising and also blocks
any already arisen joy from reaching any complete fulfillment by mental
meditative training...

Comments from the classical commentaries:
Elated & ecstatic exultation is the characteristic of the Joy Link to Awakening
(Pīti-sambojjhanga). Motivated intentness upon is the purpose of the quality of Joy.
Satisfaction lifting any depression is the manifestation of the Joy Link to Awakening.
Thinking of Joy makes this state return! This can be utilized by training it! Try now!
This reinforcement - in itself - has the capacity to gradually elevate and induce Joy!
Therefore is the state of gladness & Joy itself mainspring, basis & source of more Joy…
It is the deliberate directing attention to this, again & again, that can produce Joy!!!

Further conditions helpful for arising of the Joy Link to Awakening are:1: Recollection of the supreme and sublime uniqueness of the Buddha...
2: Recollection of the supreme and sublime uniqueness of the Dhamma...
3: Recollection of the supreme and sublime uniqueness of the Sangha...
4: Recollection of the supreme and sublime efficacy of pure Morality...
5: Recollection of the supreme and sublime efficacy of prior Generosity…
6: Recollection of the qualities that gave the devas their divinity...
7: Remembering the stilled silent state of blissful Peace...
8: Avoidance of primitive, violent, angry, rough, and coarse people.
9: Friendship with refined & kind people, who often smile in silent ease.
10: Reviewing by reading many inspiring dhamma discourses like this one.
11: Commitment & resolute determination to elevate the mind by Joy...

There is joy joined with thinking and there is joy separated from thinking!
Both leads to enraptured advance towards many advantageous states.
Awakening is a veritable flood of bliss!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Formerly, when that person was still ignorant, then he was possessed & obsessed
by sexual & sensual greed, lust, desire, yearning, envy, jealousy, and miserliness...
He was obsessed & possessed by hate, anger, ill-will, irritation and stubbornness...
He was obsessed and possessed by ignorance, doubt, delusion & plain foolishness...
These evils are now overcome by him, eradicated, like a slashed & uprooted tree,completely destroyed, and therefore unable to sprout into existence ever again!
Therefore such Bhikkhu, thus endowed, is indeed enriched by the highest Calm!
This tranquillization is his unshakable foundation! Since this, friends, is the very
highest and most precious: The Tranquillization of Greed, Hate, and Ignorance!!!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

How does one create future frustration for oneself? By expecting!!!
Ooh May I enjoy such and such form in the future.
Ooh May I delight in this and that feeling in the future.
Ooh May I experience exactly these lovely things in the future.
Ooh May I receive my beloved favourite experiences in the future.
Ooh May I relish only in those mental states, that I like in the future.
Ooh May I be satisfied by solely favourite sorts of consciousness in future.
Ooh May I Not meet this or that disliked person, event, circumstance, etc...

On the contrary: One is always content if without any expectations:
Let the past be past, passed and forgotten, for never to return to it again!
Let forms, feelings, experiences, hopes & mind here & now be as they may!
Let whatever arise & cease! Relinquishing all hoping and wishing for whatever
future forms, feelings, experiences, constructions & types of consciousness:
May I just remain aware, calm, clear, content and therefore unagitated!

Let it be, as it may!
Let it come, as it comes!
Let it go, as it goes!
Good is contentment with just what one has, with just what there is!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Whenever and wherever there is expectation, there is also hoping & longing!
Whenever and wherever there is hoping & longing, there is also craving...
Whenever and wherever there is craving, there is also suffering!
This is the2nd Noble Truth: Craving causes suffering...
Whenever & wherever there is neither expectation, nor hoping, nor longing,
nor any form of craving present, how can there ever be any suffering?
This is the 3rd Noble Truth: Absence of craving ends all suffering...

Discontent Disappointment is NOT caused by the outside world!
'Loving' and 'liking' mixed with expectation => passion => suffering!
'Loving' and 'liking' without expectation = friendliness => elevation!
These 2 forms of “love” lookalike, but are VERY different in outcome!
Expectation is an often subconscious diluted derivative of greed, which
nevertheless retains the ability to ruin any relationship and any life by
inducing the mischievous and treacherous mental state called discontent!
This discontent is NOT caused by the external object as often believed,
but by the very 'own' internal hidden prejudgement inherent in expectation!

Awareness of Emerging Expectation Helps:If one notices expectation right when it arises, and also when it persists,
this enables reflecting: "Now future suffering is created and maintained!"!
This in itself gradually will reduce this diluted derivative of painful craving.